Final Fantasy Omega

Everything Old Is New Again

Burning Questions

“Somewhere inside that man is a maniac that wants to become a god. His closest friends couldn’t save him from it before. What chance do we have?”

-Naoko, regarding Caelis

The party brought Caelis Balthazar to Kogel’s as-yet-unnamed island in an attempt to figure out what to do with their archenemy before the Faction reclaimed him. The Caelis that came back from the false reality was not the Caelis they spent a year and a half battling, but a younger, calmer Caelis, if no less intense. When he spoke, he spoke with one voice alone, not the three mixing together that they had come to accept.

Caelis described his recent past to Kogel as follows: “At first, I was on a boat en route to this island, traveling with my associates Gaspar and Melchior, ready to meet with your father for the third time. And then I was in a world without form, a void without shape or purpose, where I felt that the world was nothing but potential, and it was just waiting to become what it would be. Then that world became the top of that tower, and I saw the last moments of that pitched battle play out over the sea, and then turned to see the six of you and your airships converging on us.”

He then asked the question the party was dreading — who was he to them, and who was he to Damocles?

The Other You

“Your other self. The one we know. He was our enemy. And the enemy of the entire world.I don’t know who you are."

-Kalil, to Caelis

Kogel told Caelis the truth — the full truth, or at least as much of the truth as he could fit into the conversation. He told Caelis about EDEN and Caelis’s goal to use it to create a perfect world. He told Caelis about the experiment regarding Ultima. Caelis responded by producing his Ultima materia, marking the second instance of that unique materia in Damocles. Kogel said that he, just like the rest of them, were put into “a nexus of infinite possibility and potential,” able to see what may have changed or what could happen, inside their individual pocket worlds.

Naoko pulled Kogel away to argue about telling Caelis too much, making the life he was denied sound entirely too appealing. She argued that Kogel was setting Caelis on the same path by telling him the facts in this manner. Kogel argued that this Caelis wasn’t their enemy, and neither he nor Naoko could think of much else to do with him, unable to put him back and unable to set him free. Kalil and Caelis carried on a careful conversation during this time, ranging from Kalil’s former status as an immortal tied to an Aeon, the whereabouts of the other Sages, and confirming that he had nothing to do with the untimely passing of Doctor Thierry Sever, Kogel’s father. Caelis then graciously allowed the party to discuss their next action by talking to Darien about the advances in airship technology over the last 15 years.

Champ proposed giving Caelis to SeeD custody, but putting him in the research division with Taur and Grey by his side, so he could continue his work and the other Sages could carefully monitor his behavior to see if there were any hints of the previous Caelis. The person most responsible for Caelis, though, would be the party member with the closest link to him: Kogel.

“You know, three times I’ve had the chance to kill him. To end this all. And now here he is, completely vulnerable. And I’m saying we shouldn’t do it.”

-Kogel

The Devils You Know

“I assume you understand – if we’re able to restore you to the point in time where you left, knowing too much about the future could cause unpredictable complications.”“Which is precisely why you told me as much as you did, ensuring that I would not be able to return. Am I correct?”

-Kogel and Caelis

Despite uncovering Kogel’s plan, Caelis agreed to its terms, stating that he was not ready to see if any of Kogel’s words were bluffs. Champ oversaw Caelis being transferred to SeeD custody, giving him to a number of his most trusted agents.

The party retired to Madain Sari, where a party awaited them. Before anyone could really relax, they needed to catch up on what happened in their absence, so the party convened in the War Room for the briefing.

The revelation that Kalil allied with the Boryokudan during the party’s absence was met with disbelief from some and a violent outburst from Kogel, who was incensed that Kalil partnered with “folks that have been kidnapping, murdering.” Kalil argued that the Boryokudan were indebted to someone else, the mysterious Boss of the Boryokudan, and that Mist was still working on uncovering his identity. The clarification that the favor owed by the party to the One-Armed Dragon was an unspecified favor, to be called in later, did little to improve moods. Jericho stepped in to defend Kalil near the end, listing out all of the things that broke in their absence, and how ragged Kalil ran himself keeping up. The others reluctantly conceded the need for the Boryokudan, with Naoko’s comment of “any port in a storm, huh?” summing it up.

Sharp-Dressed Man

“…the fuck are you doing here? How’d you get here?”“I walked, if you must know.”

-Naoko and Balthier

Balthier introduced himself to the group at the meeting’s end, announcing that he would be Naoko’s second Link free of EDEN if she’d have him, and that he was escorting Eden to see them, so she could apologize again. The party quickly accepted and then discarded her apologies, just happy to see her safe. Eden revealed that she was part of Chaos now, demonstrated by the white wing on her shoulder, and Kalil’s past link to Chaos was how she was able to find and free him before. The party officially welcomed Eden to Madain Sari and Paradise, and everyone went home happy.

No Light No Light

Kalil Kiran, Naoko Kyuudou, Kogel, Aidan Denun, Champ Justice, and Darien Reinholder fought through their own individual hells to reach the end of their journey and a battle against the man responsible — Lord Hades. Hades used their absence to gain control over the Aeon of Time and planned to use it to restore his master, Angra Mainyu, to His full power. His lieutenant, Xehanort, would serve as the final line of defense against the heroes, with Hades not bothering to be present during his true moment of triumph.

The Battle With Xehanort

“Deliver your souls unto the Destroyer, so that your deaths shall not be in vain!”

-Xehanort, to the party

The battle was unique, with each person still trapped fighting against Xehanort in the guise of something from their “pocket world.”

Aidan faced a shade of Darien Reinholder, who used the skeletal remains of his fallen Aeons to attack Aidan in the ruined city of Donnerich.
Naoko (with her world’s Aidan by her side) faced a shade of the animated corpse of Lord Hades atop the Tower of Souls inside the Far Realm.
Kogel (alongside his teenaged son Glenn) faced a shade of Taijiya, attempting to bring about every parent’s worst nightmare on the fractured beach of Harvest.
Champ faced a shade of Vanitas, battling for supremacy inside Kingdom Hearts.
Kalil and Darien fought the true Xehanort atop the Tower of Souls in the true Damocles, with the largest battle since Operation: Knock It Down raging all around them.

“Then watch and learn. This is how you fight monsters.”

-Kogel, to Glenn

Unfortunately for Xehanort, six lifetimes of pain and anguish proved to be more than he could handle. With only Xehanort separating them, each member of the party fought with a passion and an intensity that they’d perhaps never reached before. Aidan’s Omega Limit activated for the first time, calling upon his connection to the Afterlife to let everyone close to Aidan in the Afterlife attack his enemy — in this case, the ghosts of the party fighting Darien. Kogel’s Omega Limit, Chrono Flare, also triggered, with a quick follow-up from Kogel tapping into the Fire materia’s fourth vein with Flare.

In the battle against Xehanort, Naoko activated the Soul necklaces she took from Hades’s corpse in the ruined Stronghold. The world she teleported into was a photo negative of the five broken realities, all connected at a central point — Eden, captured by Hades at the start of his plan. Naoko took the Doorway to Tomorrow that she claimed in her reality and broke it, then gathered up the injured and heartstricken Eden and teleported back into her world.

Xehanort’s end came when Kalil unleashed his new Limit Break, sending the guardian of Kingdom Hearts down to his knees with a series of vicious sword slashes, and triggering the Ragnarok’s Overdrive, which broke the false worlds apart.

Cracks extend out from that center point in all five realities, that same light shining up through everyone’s world.
Those cracks spread… and spread… and spread…. appearing in the sky, above you, around you, behind you, surrounding you, spiderwebbing across the sky. The beach breaks apart, sand pouring into the rifts, water emptying the oceans. Donnerich shatters, buildings tumbling, fires extinguishing as the world ceases its support of them. The Station fractures, jagged lines across Champ’s form as the Unversed fall into the newly-created pits. The mirror-top of the chained clock tower crumbles, pieces tumbling down into the ocean below.
The false realities are breaking all around you… leaving you behind, in the true Damocles.

The Fall Of Hades

“Oh, I’m sorry, did we break your concentration?”

-Naoko, to Hades

Xehanort’s end came not at the hands of the party, but due to Hades burning him alive with Dark Firaga, irate at Xehanort’s failure to stop the party. Hades then took it upon himself to fight the heroes, but not before having a Premonition (due to his link with Time) of his own death at their hands.

Darien withdrew from the battle early, electing to active his Limit Break, summon Alexander, and oversee the battle with Hades’s forces by controlling the Highwind fleet due to the Logos connection with Alexander. Kogel and Naoko, no longer separated by realities, summoned Yuna. Champ and Kogel, no longer separated by realities, summoned Bahamut. Naoko activated her Limit Break and merged with Madain. Champ activated his Limit Break, Exploder. Hades attempted to use the shards of the false realities as a weapon, using them against the party, but through some trick of the universe Kogel disarmed him.

The final strike came as Time stopped for Hades, replaying the battle, letting out one final scream as time snapped back into motion… followed by another, significantly more final, snap, as Naoko’s kick brought an end to the sorcerer’s life.

Reunion

“Eden said you’d come for us, and you did.”“Took me a little while longer than I’d hoped.”

-Kogel and Kalil

It wasn’t until Hades was dead, and confirmed to be dead by Naoko’s continued kicking of the body as she broke down, that the party really realized they were all back together. Champ and Naoko embraced, Champ gladly returning to his role as the rock in everyone’s lives. The adrenaline leaving Kogel’s body led him to race around frantically recapping what happened to everyone in his world, with Kalil unable to let go of the fact that apparently he lost an eye. Geist and the Southern Cross landed, with the party buried under wailing tonberries and the rest of the crews. Kalil passed along his thanks to Mist and the Boryokudan via PHS.

Darien broke the celebration with a sharply cleared throat.

Doctor?

“Caelis, I’m… I’m Karl Sever. I’m Thierry’s son. There was an accident. You were researching the fourth vein of the Ultima materia.”

-Kogel, to Caelis

Caelis Balthazar was back in Damocles as well, but this Caelis was not the Caelis that went through. This Caelis was 15 years younger, back before his fall from grace. The party had all discovered that the false worlds were exactly that, false, but they theorized that Caelis hadn’t, and thus when the false worlds were broken, Caelis came back as he was in the other world — changed, younger, free of EDEN. Anxious to keep him free of the Faction, the party agreed to take Caelis where his life changed forever — to Kogel’s birthplace, the island in the middle of the ocean that once held the Ultima Experiment, and where everything changed forever fifteen years before.

Postgame

Session 300 leveled the party up to Level 20, introduced the Link Board, and brought an end to Disc Six.